Underground roads, floating villages and mail delivery drones: is this the future?

They were the first in the Netherlands to describe what the “city of the future” might look like for Arnhem. “We face major challenges such as climate change,” says program manager Tim van Hattum of Wageningen University.

To make choices, one must have a vision of the future, according to him. Arnhem is “unique for the Netherlands”. “The city is at the interface between two landscapes: you have the higher areas and the Rhine. Furthermore, Arnhem wants to be a very green and climate-friendly city. We want to show how it will look in the future .”

For example, we know that the Rhine already looks different by season, says researcher Ilse Voskamp, ​​walking along the Rijnkade. “It sometimes takes up a lot of space. In the future, it will only be more.”

Where the Rhine is still separated from the Waal, it will soon become “one large river area”, describes Voskamp. “With plenty of space for water, but also for biodiversity and the development of nature. People also live and work: they live with the dynamics of water.”

This creates different forms of housing, Voskamp knows that. “Living on large mounds, high-rise buildings or new floating homes. The modes of transportation are also different: people take boats home and you see drones flying overhead to deliver goods.”

These are scenarios that are partly intended to stimulate a little, acknowledges Voskamp. “Then you see the pain points come up. We need to have a conversation about that.”

Arriving at the Lauwerspark, Voskamp explains that these types of green spaces will soon be part of the important connections between the Veluwe and the future river area.

According to her, these “valleys of streams” should be the big green fingers that connect the city to the greenery. “For example, the water from Sint-Jansbeek rises here. It comes from Sonsbeek Park. You don’t see that everywhere on the streets now. But in our view, they lead the green through the city.”

Shouldn’t buildings give way to all those green plans? “As you can see, there is now plenty of space for traffic and asphalt,” Voskamp points out on the adjacent roads. “In 100 years, we will have self-driving cars: then we will need a lot less asphalt. This gives many opportunities to create greenery: instead of traffic, you can hear the birds again.

All these green ideas should sound like music to GroenLinks Alderman Cathelijne Bouwkamp. But residential towers in the Veluwe? “I think that is indeed an exciting aspect of this scenario. Especially now that we are looking at how we can properly restore and protect nature in the Veluwe. But it is a fact that this is an area higher in the Netherlands.”

So there are quite a few “extreme examples” in the report, notes Bouwkamp. “It’s also an inspiration, of course.” The alderman indicates that it is important that science makes her think about the future in the long term.

Van Hattum believes every city administrator should think about it. “Of course, there are a lot of short-term problems. But we have to think a lot more about what we want to do together. Climate change forces us to do that.”

As far as Van Hattum is concerned, each municipality will therefore draw up such a vision for the future. To begin with, he would like to repeat the research from Arnhem to Amsterdam. “And then New York,” jokes the scientist.